Text messages on mobile phones will alert hundreds of wardens to begin evacuating office workers and shoppers from Sydney's central business district in the event of a terrorist attack, according to a plan unveiled on Friday. Modeled on the strategy used in the aftermath of the recent London bombings, people in Australia's largest city will be told to gather at three open-air evacuation sites in the business district where they will be directed to the best transport route home. "Our counter terrorism agencies have moved quickly to learn from the recent attacks in London," New South Wales state Premier Morris Iemma said in announcing the evacuation plan. Iemma said publicizing the three evacuation sites risked making the areas, which would be crowded with thousands of people, potential targets. "It is about managing the risk. People are entitled to get information as to where they go, because we know if an attack does occur, there is confusion, there is fear," said Iemma.
Australia, a staunch U.S. ally with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, has steadily strengthened security and anti-terrorism laws since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The country has never yet been the target of a major attack, but 88 Australians were among 202 people killed in the October 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali and the Australian embassy in Jakarta was hit by a suicide bomb in 2004. Prime Minister John Howard is expected to beef up counter-terrorism laws in the aftermath of the London bombings and following a recent review of Australian security.
This week security authorities said up to 60 suspected Islamic extremists were under surveillance in Australia's two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney. Two Australians, one a former Qantas baggage handler and the other a Pakistan-born architect, are awaiting trial on terrorism charges in Sydney. Architect Faheem Khalid Lodhi faces nine charges, including planning to carry out attacks in Sydney "involving the bombing of one or more establishments". Bilal Khazal, 35, is charged with compiling a terrorist manual from the Internet. |
Wipe your feet before entering the mosque, please. Thanks.